As the awards were given, an Honorable Mention was awarded for Scott Henderson in Paint It Ellicott City 2023. The painting awarded was the 12×12 oil painting “La Dame Verte”, one of 2 submissions for the juried artist.
It was an honor to be recognized among so many great artists and paintings. This year had a great variety of styles and subjects. All of them varied, interesting and very well executed.
The experience of painting in a plein air competition usually has challenges. This year’s challenge was the Canadian wildfire smoke which enveloped the area and the rest of the Northeast and Mid Atlantic. The air was hard to breathe and it made for a distorted sense of depth. The painting “La Dame Verte” was painted on the day of the worst air quality, and I chose to use that to my advantage. I accentuated the atmospheric perspective, adding much more depth to elements in the background.
La Dame Verte, 12×12 oil on panel by Scott Henderson
The awards were judged and presented by Guest Juror Doris Glovier. I loved how she explained her reasoning for the awards. I felt they were very fair.
One great side effect of the experience was making some new painting friends! While painting on a city street you never know who you will run into & it turns out I met some great people and artists. One is Gavin Bromell, a founder of the Baltimore Plein Air Club.
The second was Heather Blackwell, an artist I ran into up at the Ellicott City courthouse. It turns out we went to the same high school, that’s why they call it Smalltimore.
Lastly, I wanted to shout out to my amazing painter friend Amanda Milliner for the “coaching” going into this. I took her classes at the HoCo Arts Center & really upped my game. Her advice helped me take my painting to a higher level & I definitely heard her voice in my head while painting. Thanks!